Lange makes history for Tech golf

Louisiana Tech sophomore Victor Lange made history Monday as he became the first golfer in school history to receive a bid to compete at the NCAA Regionals. Lange will compete at the San Antonio Regional at Briggs Ranch Golf Club on May 15-17.

Lange is one of 10 individuals selected for the San Antonio Regional along with 13 teams in the field. The top five teams and top individual not on those five teams advance to the NCAA Championships.

"I am very excited," Lange said of his selection to the NCAA Regionals. "It is very cool to see my name on the Golf Channel. It is obviously fantastic to make school history and it is what I came here to do, I suppose. I am excited to go to Briggs Ranch and do my best but I don't intend to stop at regionals – I want to keep playing this season. I am absolutely ecstatic and I couldn't be more happy."

This marks the first time a Bulldog individual has received an NCAA Regional selection since the school made the move to Division I in the late 1970s. The only other appearance Louisiana Tech has made in NCAA postseason play came as the team went to the NCAA Division II Championships in 1969.

"For Victor to do this is just a great feeling," Jeff Parks said of Lange's regional bid. "Victor is an incredible person, an extremely hard worker and one of the most confident people I have ever met. With the timing knowing this is my last season as coach, this is a blessing. I wish the team would have been able to make it but Victor going as an individual is a step in the right direction for this program. Getting to walk down the fairways with him one last time will be a treat."

A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Lange has shot a 72.8 average this year to date which, if the season had ended today, would mark the best season scoring average in school history. He leads the team with 14 rounds played this season where he shot par or better and has accumulated a .784 winning percentage (621-171) in 11 tournaments played this year.

He is headed to a regional site the Bulldogs have already seen this year when Louisiana Tech competed at the Lone Star Invitational held at regional host Briggs Ranch Golf Club. In that tournament Lange shot 4-over-par (72-74-74=220) as he tied for 30th.

"In scheduling there is a method to the madness," Parks said of making a return to Briggs Ranch. "I scheduled that event for our team with the NCAA Regionals in mind, knowing that it was one of the six sites and it paid off. I believe this is a huge advantage for Victor to have played three competitive rounds and a practice round. He will have a good comfort level there having already played and the course, trees and grasses will be an advantage for him than if he had been sent to any other site.

Lange has recorded three top-five finishes this year and five top-10 finishes to his credit this season. That includes a tie for fourth place at the Conference USA Championship earlier this week where he shot 3-over-par 213 (68-73-72=213) over the course of three days, claiming all-tournament honors. His current ranking of No. 171 is the highest he has been ranked in his young career.

The best round of the season for Lange this year came at the Bayou City Collegiate Championship where he shot a 7-under-par 67 on a challenging par-72 course. He would finish that tournament in second place.

The NCAA Men's Golf Selection Committee selected a total of 81 teams (including 31 automatic qualifiers and 50 at-large teams) and 45 individuals not on selected teams for NCAA Regional participation. Those 81 teams and 45 individuals were divided up among six regional sites for play on May 15-17. Three regions will have 13 teams and 10 individuals not on those teams (as is the case in San Antonio) and the other three regions will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams.

Lange is one of six Conference USA individual golfers to make the NCAA field along with Matt Mabrey (Tulsa), Logan McCracken (Tulsa), Franco Castro (Charlotte), Eric Brady (East Carolina) and Martin Simonsen (UTEP). Additionally, the full teams from Rice, Charlotte and UAB will be competing at the NCAA Regionals as those teams received bids.

Players from the United States pose for the camera before the semifinal round of the women's hockey game against Finland at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. (Matt Slocum/Pool Photo via AP)

Team USA won the first meeting between the neighboring nations at the 1998 Winter Olympics. The Canucks have won every other meeting.